


Things Lost in the Fire

by infiniteworld8



Series: The Storeroom [2]
Category: The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
Genre: Awkward Conversations, Canon Jewish Character, Depression, Gen, Guilt, Holocaust, Inappropriate Humor, Innuendo, Secretly a Virgin, World War II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-12
Updated: 2014-02-12
Packaged: 2018-01-12 02:31:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1180863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/infiniteworld8/pseuds/infiniteworld8
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Walter visit's Max and brings him something to cheer him up that he considers a necessity.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Things Lost in the Fire

He was half lost in a dream, alternating between shivering from the cool air seeping through his threadbare blanket and trembling from the nightmares playing out inside his mind. His head was pillowed on his hard suitcase and his shoulder ached from where it was in contact with the floor.

“Hey, wake up!”

 He sat up immediately, his heart hammering in his chest and his sleep-crusted eyes struggling to open. Max hated when Walter did that….It was nothing worse to wake up with a nasty start just because somebody else found it amusing to tease you.

He stared at Walter, owlishly blinking sleep from his eyes and stifling a yawn as he tried vainly to flatten his over-long hair down.  “What are you here for?” he couldn’t keep the hint of irritation from his tone. There was still enough food and water left from Walter’s last visit, usually that meant it would be at least a few days before he saw him again.

“Somebody’s in a bad mood,  “ Walter observed lightly dropping down on the cold floor next to Max. “Brought you something to cheer you up.”

The retort he longed to utter was bit back with great difficulty. Being locked away in a dark room for weeks on end, finding out your family was most likely dead, living off scraps of food and seeing no end to any of it gave him a right to be in a bad mood he thought.

Instead of speaking Max frowned even though he knew Walter couldn’t see him in the dark. He absentmindedly rubbed his arms and shivered slightly in the cool air of the storeroom. Walter was rummaging around in the package he had brought; finally he produced a sheaf of papers with a flourish and passed them to Max.

It was too dark to make out what the papers were, Max heard Walter fumbling in the darkness and then a candle was lit. In the dim glow Max, felt his face grow warm as he stared at the pictures of women in scant clothing smiling up almost luridly from the pages.

“That should keep you warm, eh?” Walter grinned, his eyes lighting up. “There are some points to being a part of Hitler’s shit squad eh? Found a shop owner had some of these and confiscated it as contraband, after all can’t have these pictures laying around, huh?…That would encourage fraternization with the enemy.”

Max didn’t speak, he felt a little awkward. He felt his face growing even darker with embarrassment. Walter was totally obliviously, he jabbed a finger at the top most photo and said. “Though if they all had legs like Betty Grable and a chest like Mae West,  I wouldn’t say no to a little fraternization.” Walter’s eyes lingered on the picture and he gave a low whistle.

There was silence for a moment as Max half-heartedly flicked through the pages Walter had given him. He was doing it more because he knew it was expected than because he actually wanted to.

“Why do the American’s have most of the good looking girls? Hitler’s trying to take over the world, I say he sets out about rounding up some girls that actually look good and stops with the camps. Jews aren’t the  problem this nation has …it’s some of these girls around here. Instead of executing Jews they need to get Ada Hertz , her face is a threat to national security …oh and remember Louise—” Walter broke off as he noticed how quiet Max had grown.

“Look, I’m sorry. I just was joking…Just forget it.”

Max shrugged, like he didn’t care. He stared at the photos strewn in his lap. It was just another reminder, it wasn’t Walter’s life that was in danger everyday like his was…he could joke about people being rounded up and executed because it wasn’t his family that was gone. Walter was still watching him and Max forced himself to say “Really it’s fine.” He took a deep breath and added. “, Ada was pretty ugly, yeah?”

“Yeah,..she was.” Walter seemed unsure what else to say.  ‘Anyway, I figured you’d want something to keep you busy…I don’t know how you stand it here…it was bad enough  when I went for training a few  weeks and you couldn’t get away to take a piss by yourself let alone get a girl. I think I’d go crazy, what’s it been like months for you?”

“Never actually.” Max hadn’t meant to say it but it suddenly didn’t seem important, nothing much did anymore.

Walter froze mid-nervous ramble and stared at Max before bursting out laughing like he had heard the biggest joke in the world. “Seriously Max, you’re a _Jungfrau?_ You’re twenty-two for God sakes!” Walter laughed again. “Tell me how does that happen, the girls were practically swooning over you in school.”

Max shrugged his shoulders and set the magazine’s aside.   He glanced down at his hands and awkwardly laced them together in lieu of looking at Walter. “There was a girl but we— we didn’t—I mean” Max stumbled over the words and fell silent, before trying again.“I wanted to wait  until we got married , like my mum and dad—but then everything happened and …”

Walter fell silent and shifted nervously.  Finally he gave Max a punch in the shoulder. “You shouldn’t wait for some things , you never know any day could be your last …life’s too short, Max..”

“I know…” Max said the words with quiet conviction.

Walter fell silent as he realized just how true his words were “I didn’t—“ Walter tried to apologize for the second time in a few minutes.

Max cut him off…”It’s fine…It’s true.”

Neither spoke again, instead the magazines and pin-ups rested on the floor between them. Max stared at the slowly melting candle and wondered just how short his life would be…

**Author's Note:**

> Just realized this is my first book thief story without Death's commentary. But then again he wasn't needed for this story. I just got this ficlet in my head and it was late so I wrote it. Hope you enjoyed. If not then well...I tried. Leave a comment...they feed my story engine


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